Company

Bank

Analyst

Coverage

Opinion

Wk chg

2/24 cls

Gentium S.p.A. (NASDAQ:GENT)

ThinkEquity

Mani Mohindru

Upgrade

Buy (from sell)

1%

$8.68

Mohindru also raised his target to $11 from $4 after Gentium submitted responses to Day 120 questions from EMA's CHMP related to the review of defibrotide to treat and prevent hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) in hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation therapy in adults and children (see B13). He believes that the single-stranded oligodeoxyribonucleotides derived from porcine mucosal DNA could be approved in 2012 for at least the prevention indication. The product has Orphan Drug designation in the EU and U.S. to treat and prevent VOD and Fast Track designation in the U.S. to treat VOD.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Barclays Capital

C. Anthony Butler

Downgrade

Equal weight (from overweight)

-4%

$45.26

Butler also lowered his target to $53 from $67, saying Gilead is "more likely to become one of several players in the HCV space, as opposed to the majority leader assumed by consensus." Earlier this month, the company announced that six of eight evaluable null responders experienced viral relapse within four weeks of completing 12 weeks of treatment with GS-7977 plus ribavirin for HCV genotype 1 infection in the Phase IIb ELECTRON trial (see BioCentury, Feb. 20). GS-7977, which Gilead gained from its acquisition of Pharmasset Inc., is a single isomer form of PSI-7851, a nucleotide analog HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitor.